Returning Home: A Hobbit Fanfiction

Chapter 18 - To Die, That Others May Live

~~ Elena~~

After eating a hastily constructed meal, the group readied themselves for bed, and most fell asleep within minutes, worn out by the day's adventures. The boys placed their bedrolls next to the girls and sat down, talking in hushed voices. Elena, seeing that her sister was temporarily occupied talking to Bilbo, knelt down next to them.

"I wanted to say thanks for looking out for Celia, earlier," she told Kíli softly.

He looked up at her, brown eyes innocent and wide. "What makes you think that I did anything special? I didn't do-" He stopped, frowning. "That didn't come out right. Of course I would look out for her, but, I mean, why -"

Elena stopped him with a smile. "For one, because my sister mentioned that you had tried to protect her from the mountain earlier. And two, because Fíli did the exact same thing when he thought we were going to hit the mountain. Tried to protect me as much as possible. And as much as you may try to hide it, you're every bit as much of a gentleman as he is. And my sister is..."

She swallowed hard and looked away. "My sister means the world to me. I guess it just really hit home for me today that she could have died, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop it. So thank you for protecting her when I couldn't."

Kíli rested a hand on her shoulder, making him look up at her. Both he and Fíli were wearing warm smiles. "Of course. You and Celia have become good friends to me and my brother during our travels. And we Durins tend to be protective of our friends." He grinned, the expression lighting up his face. "And, you know, we got to see a thunder battle too. So it was pretty much a win-win."

Elena shook her head, but smiled, feeling lighter inside. "Of course. Leave it to you to focus on the battle, not the part where we almost died."

He shrugged. "Why focus on the grim when there's so much more amazing things to see? We've almost died several times, but we didn't - and almost no one has seen a thunder battle, let alone lived to tell about it. We've just seen something that there are legends about!"

Elena tilted her head at him. "That's a... surprisingly deep thought, and an extremely optimistic view on life. Maybe I'll take a page out of your book." She smiled, covering a yawn before laying down on her roll and pulling the blankets up to her neck. "Night, you two," she said fondly as her sister came and laid down beside her, repeating the sentiment. They returned her message with chuckles and a few yawns of their own before laying down for the night, their breathing quickly becoming even and regular.

"Did you have a nice chat?" Celia's whisper startled her. Rolling over, she met her sister's eyes.

"We talked. I told Kíli thanks for looking after my harebrained sister. The usual."

Not even bothering to roll her eyes, Celia couldn't help but smile fondly. "I said the same thing to Fíli." Her expression sobered. "Are you ready for... you know, tonight?"

Elena sighed heavily, her eyes flitting up to the bag by her head, and the axes lying in their sheathes under her hand. "As close as we can get, I guess. I have everything else packed up, and ready to grab. What about you? Did you talk to Bilbo?"

Celia nodded. "I didn't tell him everything, but I told him not to give away who he is, or what his name is if he were to meet anyone. I think he suspects something is going on, but he's not going to ask if we're not going to tell. I feel kind of guilty, though. Not telling him what's going to happen."

Elena frowned. "I know. But this is something that has to be done if Middle Earth is to be saved. He's probably the only one right now who could safely carry it. And we don't even know how it will affect us, knowing that it's right there. And if we tell him, he might change something for the worst. At least this way, maybe it'll be harder for anyone to find him afterwards. And I've been thinking..."